Hurricanes 3, Capitals 2 (SO)
Tuomo Ruutu and Jeff Skinner scored in the shootout and Cam Ward made 38 saves as the visiting Carolina Hurricanes edged the Washington Capitals, 3-2, on Tuesday.
Skinner added his 27th tally to tie it in the third period and Jussi Jokinen scored his 17th on the power play for the Hurricanes (36-30-10), who pulled within three points of the Buffalo Sabres (38-29-9) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Skinner scored on the first shot in the shootout, beating Semyon Varlamov between the pads. Ward held off Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, giving Ruutu the chance to clinch it in the third round.
Carolina grabbed the early lead on a power play when Jokinen buried a rebound into an open net from the doorstep at the 2:29 mark of the second.
The Capitals tied it when Alexander Semin connected for his 27th tally, lifting it up over Ward’s shoulder with 5:42 left in the second.
Marcus Johansson put Washington on top just over three minutes later on a similar play, coming in on the right side and beating Ward 1-on-1.
The Hurricanes got the equalizer on Skinner’s goal 1:46 into the third.